[Sigia-l] proffing user's location

[javier velasco]

Thanks all for the great help, I believe that the given links are enough to solve our problem (some gory details are below).

Christopher Gomez wrote:

> //SNIP/Ken Bryson//
> >Why don't you just ask the user where they are?
> >
> >I'd say most dead-end-users at least know what country they're in..
> //SNIP/Ken Bryson//
>
> Well it seems like a very simple solution, Ken, but most users don't want to tell companies about themselves. Javier didn't make it clear if the system generates a form that a user has to fill in at first, or even a JS or JAVA popup box that requires the end-users input.
>
> On the point about end-users not wanting to tell where they're from - well, even if a product/service will benefit them with the added customization/localization, they generally don't care. There are reasons why they choose to be the way they are and it's best to not get into that right now. :)
>
> Anyway, I'm assuming that Javier is talking about a system that's able to figure out where you're logging in from automatically. Actually there are tools that allow you to do that.

I'll still explain more coprorate stuff than I initially was willing to:

The project is an online newspaper. Our VP asked me to come up with a system to enable us to authenticate if someone is comming to the site from within the country of from a foreign country (we don't need the precise location, just local/foreign data).

He wants to make this difference because he wants to charge local users for the content, but not foreign visitors (who are largely people from our country living elsewhere) He thinks foreign visitors won't be willing to pay for content they can find elsewhere (I don't know how this is different from local users, but I'm not entitled to question his business models).

We need to know if they are locals or foreigners at the moment of the registration, and have that recorder in the user's profile. He wants to ask the users for a way to prove their status of foreigner (that's why I mentioned the National ID number), not to rely on what they will type into the registration form. I'm assuming that most of our users are not savvy enough to hack the system and fake their location, and the amount of people able to do it is something the company could bare with, so I think the IP guess is enough.

> Javier, your tech team is   w  r  o  n  g.   :)    It *can* be done via IP.  Though, there may be some flaws.

They were very excited to see the site Peter first sent me :-\ When the requirement was presented to me, my first guess was to do it via IP, but they (tech team) have had a *really hard* time lately and I understand their defensive reaction to my request - although don't justify it, I've been very disssapointed by thir skills during these months.

thanks for all the great help!
javier